EDITOR’S NOTE: Earlier in March, #HealthCaribbean featured Cuba in its 2021-03-15 edition. Just short of a month, we again feature Cuba in this newsletter. Some very significant events are in progress that just cannot wait any longer. We wish to recognise the yeoman’s role Cuba is playing in the fight against COVID-19.
Our headline taken from the Cuba Business Report reads: “First Trial Of COVID Vaccine Approved for Children”. The Director of Research at the Finlay Vaccine Institute — Dagmar García Rivero — has announced that documentation is being prepared for the regulatory authorities to approve the first trial of a COVID vaccine for use in children between the ages of 5 and 18.
Cuba’s Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) has also developed a new vaccine, called Abdala, which has begun phase III clinical trials. And, CIGB is also collaborating with Chinese researchers to develop even another vaccine, called PanCorona, which is to treat the new COVID-19 variants.
Finally, the capital of Cuba — Havana — is the centre of Cuba’s worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic. So, the government plans to innoculate nearly its entire population by the end of May. And, a medical brigade of 39 additional Cuban doctors is now in Mozambique to assist in treating COVID-19 patients in their isolation centres.